State Lawmaker Who Called For Trump’s Assassination Apologizes, But Refuses To Step Down

A Missouri state senator who called for President Donald Trump’s assassination last week is refusing to step down after issuing a formal apology to the president and his family on Sunday.

Maria Chappelle-Nadal, an African-American Democrat, sparked outrage Thursday when she wrote “I hope Trump is assassinated!” in a now-deleted Facebook post.

“I made a mistake, and I’m owning up to it. And I’m not ever going to make a mistake like that again. I have learned my lesson. My judge and my jury is my Lord, Jesus Christ,” Chappelle-Nadal said during a Sunday news conference at a church in Ferguson.

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“President Trump, I apologize to you and your family,” she added.

Chappelle-Nadal asked media outlets not to publish the location of the news conference beforehand, claiming she has received death threats of her own for her post.

She said her comment was made out of frustration in reaction to Trump’s insistence that “both sides” were to blame for the violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier in August.

The U.S. Secret Service questioned Chappelle-Nadal as part of an investigation into her remarks. Chappelle-Nadal told The Associated Press she informed the agency she “had no intentions of hurting anyone or trying to get other people to hurt anyone at all.”

Prior to her apology Sunday, Chappelle-Nadal said her Facebook post was “improper,” but refused to apologize to the “bigot that we have in our White House.”

“When the president apologizes, I’ll apologize,” she told local news station KMOX Thursday. “But I’m not apologizing for being frustrated and angry at a bigot that we have in our White House.”

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., have also called on Chappelle-Nadal to step down.

Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Webber called for Chappelle-Nadal’s ouster in a statement Sunday.

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“State Senator Chappelle-Nadal’s comments are indefensible,” Webber said. “All sides need to agree that there is no room for suggestions of political violence in America – and the Missouri Democratic Party will absolutely not tolerate calls for the assassination of the President.”

“I believe she should resign,” he added.

The Missouri Constitution states that a lawmaker can be expelled by a two-thirds vote of the elected members of the chamber. The Missouri Senate is not scheduled to reconvene until Sept. 13.